&Made by Bruno Menard

The Singaporean obsession with Michelin stars may explain why you see people waiting in line for two hours at the one Michelin-starred Tim Ho Wan in Plaza Singapura whilst the staff at the nearby (zero-star) Mouth restaurant stare glumly into space at their usually empty eatery. Thing is, the latter actually serves much better dim sum on average than the former. I inadvertently discovered this during one failed attempt to eat at Tim Ho Wan.

It therefore goes without saying that what drew me (along with many other Singaporeans before me) to &Made was the fact that its owner is three Michelin-starred celebrity chef, Bruno Menard. Its price point, averaging around the low-20s, seemed too reasonable to be true. Besides, having made numerous “Best Burgers in Singapore” lists, it looked like a foolproof bet for dinner on a Friday evening.

I really wanted to like it.

Osmanthus Sancha Iced Tea, $6.00.

Things didn’t get off to a great start. Waiting in line for 15 minutes at a crowded restaurant in town for dinner on Fridays is perfectly understandable. Waiting 30 minutes for your food to arrive after placing your order, however, isn’t. I was so hungry I finished every last drop of my tea before my burger even arrived. At least the tea wasn’t diluted, thanks to the smart move of replacing ice cubes with cubes of frozen tea.

Throughout the half-hour wait for our food, my dining companion repeatedly said “The food had better be damn delicious”, each time in an increasingly menacing tone.

The Lamb, $25.00.

Comprising a lamb patty spiced with mint and coriander, then topped with a lime pickle mayonnaise and curried raisin onion compote, all sandwiched between two halves of a buttered brioche bun, there’s no denying that The Lamb smelt fantastic. I took a bite of the patty, which resembled a giant meatball, and rather liked how the spices toned down the usually gamey taste of lamb. Texture-wise it was a little tough though.

There’s a distinctly Indian influence to this dish, and a Google search reveals that mint and coriander are spices used in a minced lamb curry dish called kheema, which originates from Hyderabad. My friend found it difficult to finish the burger because it was too rich, but I suppose that’s a happy problem for some.

The ‘B’ Burger, $19.00

The rather unappetizing descriptor used for the beef patties served at &Made is “dry-aged”, which led me to imagine a wrinkly piece of cardboard. The actual process of “dry-aging” doesn’t actually sound much better, given that it involves eeky stuff like enzymes and fungi. Sorry, biology was a fail for me so you can read ’bout this shizz yerself. The beef commonly available in supermarkets undergoes the process of wet-aging, which is much faster and more cost-effective than having the beef undergo dry-aging. What eventually results from dry-aging, though, is beef that’s much more tender and flavorful than wet-aged beef. Moreover, according to Wikipedia, ” only the higher grades of meat can be dry aged, as the process requires meat with a large, evenly distributed fat content”.

Served with caramelized onions, Comté cheese and, to quote the menu, “amazingly delicious” caper and garlic mayonnaise, this burger was a letdown. The beef patty, purportedly the pièce de résistance, was so dry that I literally thumped my chest a couple times so it could go down easier. It’s a reflex action la, don’t question its effectiveness. As for the rest of the components – it may be hard to go wrong with cheese and onions on beef, but the brioche bun, though soft, was over-buttered. This was at best a mediocre burger.

Truffle Fries, additional $3 with any house burger.

While waiting for our food to be served, the adjacent table’s order for truffle fries arrived and I caught a whiff of the familiar gasoline smell as it passed me by. Naturally this fanned my anticipation (NOT TO MENTION HUNGER) for my own order of fries. Unfortunately the fries I was served contained no discernible trace of truffle. When I stopped a waiter and gestured at the fries, he confirmed that they were truffle-flavoured. By then I was so ravenous I wasn’t sure if my taste buds were playing tricks on me, so I left it at that. In the event that no mistake had been made with my order, these would be the blandest truffle fries that I’ve ever tasted.

I guess it’s obvious from my review that I won’t be returning to &Made anytime in the near future. Though the maître-d’s attentiveness and prompt service merits a mention, the long wait for food at much hyped-about eateries is justifiable only if the food manages to live up to its hype. If I’m looking to spend my money on food that’s lacklustre, I’m going to go somewhere that serves it fast.